Early in the year I posted an article here about “The other Aphek – of Asher” in which I included some aerial views of the site and explained the difference between this site and the better known Aphek in Sharon. Earlier this year I made a visit to the northern site (locally spelled Afek).

I will repeat one of the photos to provide some perspective.This view shows the tel, the nature reserve and the plain of Acre. The biblical tel is marked by the red oval.

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority has a nice PDF English brochure about the Afeq Nature Reservehere. The brochure provides a brief history of the tel.

A number of archaeological surveys have been carried out on Tel Afeq. They have revealed finds going back to the Canaanite period, beginning around 5,000 years ago. A row of large field stones discovered here is apparently a remnant of the most ancient city wall, dating from the Middle Bronze age (the tenth to sixth centuries BCE). During the Canaanite period a purple dye industry developed here, based on excretions from snails harvested from the sea. Glass was also produced here using sand from the beach at Acre and the surrounding area. Both these industries made the area very important economically.
In a salvage dig in May 1998 at the northern edge of the tell, human remains were found, along with pottery vessels and tombs from the Middle and Late Bronze ages (19th-13th centuries BCE).

Bible Walks has many photos, historical references, and a Google earth map with identifications here.

Tel Maresha (= Tell Sandahanna) is a large mound located south of Highway 35 between Bet Guvrin and Lachish.

View of the north side of Tel Maresha. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Maresha [Mareshah in most English translations; Marisha] is listed among cities of the Shephelah (lowland) (Joshua 15:33, 44). See also 2 Chronicles 20:37 and Micah 1:15. Rehoboam, king of Judah (931/30 – 913 B.C.), fortified Maresha and several other cities of the Shephelah (2 Chron. 11:5-10). Asa, king of Judah (911/10 – 870/69 B.C.), fought Zerah the Ethiopian at Maresha (2 Chronicles 14:9-10).

Residents of Mareshah, a conqueror will attack you, the leaders of Israel shall flee to Adullam. (Micah 1:15 NET)

He says the leaders will flee to Adullam. Adullam is noted for its caves, and specifically as the place where David hid when he was fleeing from Achish, king of Gath (1 Samuel 22:1). His mighty men went to David at the cave of Adullam during a war with the Philistines (2 Samuel 23:13).

During the Hellenistic and early Roman periods, the Nabatean Arabs moved into the ancient territory of Edom. They were living in the region centered at Petra as early as 312 B.C. Much of their income was derived from the control of the spice trade.

The earlier inhabitants of Edom moved west into the territory south of Judah and north of the Negev. The term Idumea may be derived from Edom. Hubner says,

“The Edomites probably began emigrating increasingly into the S portions of the Judean territory following the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B.C.” (Anchor Bible Dictionary).

Hebron and Maresha became two of their most important cities. The Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus (135–104 B.C.) compelled the Idumeans to be circumcised and become Jews.

A view southeast of Maresha toward the central mountain range. Notice the shepherd with sheep. Click on the photo for a larger image. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Antipater, a wealthy and powerful Idumean leader (63–43 BC), gained the favor of several Roman rulers. After the death of Antipater in 43 B.C., his son Herod was declared the King of the Jews. Some scholars suggest that Maresha was Herod’s birthplace.

The vicinity is noted for it underground chambers.

“The rock is Eocene chalk (kirton), which is very easy to work. Where the chalk was exposed to the air a hard crust (nari) formed, which provided a solid roof” (Murphy-O’Connor, The Holy Land).

After the Parthians destroyed Maresha (40 B.C.), the city moved to a nearby village known as Bet Guvrin. By A.D. 200, Bet Guvrin became a significant city known as Eleutheropolis. Murphy-O’Connor says, “The prosperity of the city at this period is underlined by an oval amphitheatre.”

Many of the Jewish people recently observed Tisha B’Av. This phrase, strange to Christians, means the Fast of the Ninth. The observance “is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people” (Judaism 101). According to this source, five terrible events took place on or near the ninth day of the month Av, the fifth month of the Jewish calendar.

The most significant of these events are the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. (2 Kings 25:8-9; Jeremiah 52:12-13), and the destruction by the Romans in A.D. 70.

In the past half century a considerable amount of evidence has come to light concerning the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The temple destroyed in 586 B.C. had been constructed by King Solomon in about 966 B.C. It was rebuilt by those who returned from the Babylonian Exile (530-516 B.C.).

Herod the Great began about 19/20 B.C. to rebuild the temple. This work was still in progress during the ministry of Jesus.

Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” (John 2:20 NET)

Christians take seriously the prophecy of Jesus.

Now as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings. And he said to them, “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!” (Matthew 24:1-2 NET)

There is no archaeological evidence of the temple building itself. The site where the temple once stood is now covered with paving stones and the Dome of the Rock which was constructed by the followers of Mohammed in the 7th century A.D.

The Dome of the Rock stands where Solomon’s Temple was built. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Vivid evidence of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem was discovered at the SW corner of the temple area in the Tyropean Valley. Some of the rubble can still be seen on the street which was probably built by Agrippa II in the 60s of the first century.

Stones that fell, or were pushed, from the Temple Mount to the street below in A.D. 70 at the time of the destruction by the Romans. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Wayne Stiles recently wrote an article here on this topic with several excellent photos from the Burnt House in Jerusalem, a house burned during the Roman destruction in A.D. 70.

For the first few decades of my preaching I ate fried chicken in lots of homes. There were numerous jokes about preachers and chicken. One was that the family of five were told by the head of the house to bow their heads while thanks was being given. Just as he was about to say Amen there was a loud cry of pain. When they looked, the preacher had five forks in his hand.

In the days before frozen meat, or even refrigeration, it was easy enough to make a last-minute decision to invite the visiting minister home without having anything prepared to eat. The woman of the house would send one of the kids to the yard to select a plump fryer. It did not take very long to get that chicken plucked, cut, rolled in flour and fried. It was good.

When I opened the digital headlines from The Jerusalem Post (here) this morning I read an article reporting that chickens were first commercialized in Israel 2,300 years ago. A little later in the day I received reports from Joseph Lauer. First the NPR report (here), and then other sources.

To summarize. Researchers at the University of Haifa have been studying more than a thousand chicken bones excavated at Maresha (= Mareshah), a site in the Shephelah of Israel, from the Hellenistic period (400 to 200 B.C.). Lee Perry-Gal is quoted by NPR:

“The site is located on a trade route between Jerusalem and Egypt,” says Lee Perry-Gal, a doctoral student in the department of archaeology at the University of Haifa. As a result, it was a meeting place of cultures, “like New York City.”

Lee Perry-Gal examining chicken bones from Hellenistic Maresha.

Another photo provided by the folks at Haifa shows chicken bones in an ancient cooking pot.

Cooking pot with chicken wing bones from the excavation.

If you have more technical interest in this story you should see the abstract on the PNAS website here. The article may be downloaded for a fee.

When I began to look at Biblical references to chickens, I was a little surprised at the paucity of references in the Old Testament

There is only one reference to the rooster in the Old Testament (Proverbs 30:31), but the New Testament contains at least a dozen references. Most of them are about Peter’s denial of Jesus.

A rooster at the Greek Orthodox property at Capernaum. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Jesus says He wanted to gather the children (used of all the people) of Jerusalem together “the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (Matthew 23:37; cf. Luke 13:34 NAU).

If there was no widespread production of chickens in Israel until the Hellenistic period, what did the prophets eat?

A few weeks (months?) back, after a long wait, I received the 5-volume A Dictionary of the Bible, ed. by James Hastings, in Logos format. I have mentioned earlier that this is an old set that is not a substitute for owning newer materials. The fifth volume is an Extra Volume that includes some special studies. William M. Ramsay wrote sections on Roads and Travel in the New Testament. This material was published in 1911 and 1912.

Ramsay also wrote the Dictionary entry on Troas. Here I will share a few excerpts from that material that I think will illustrate the value of such material.

TROAS (Τρῳάς, or more correctly Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ Τρῳάς [Alexandria Troas]) was a city on the Ægean coast of Asia Minor, opposite the small island of Tenedos. The district in which it was situated was sometimes called as a whole Troas, and is in modern times generally called the Troad; it was the northwestern part of the land of Mysia….

It became one of the greatest and largest cities of the north-west of Asia. In the coasting voyage system of ancient navigation, it was the harbour to and from which the communication between Asia and Macedonia was directed (cf. Ac 16:8, 20:5, 2 Co 2:12). Owing to the greatness of Troas and its legendary connexion with the foundation of Rome, the idea was actually entertained by Julius Cæsar of transferring thither the centre of government from Rome (Suet. Jul. 79); and some similar scheme was still not wholly forgotten when Horace protested against it in Od. iii. 3. Hadrian probably visited Troas and it was perhaps his interest in it that led the wealthy and politic Herodes Atticus to build there an aqueduct (the ruins of which were imposing in very recent times) and baths….

The route followed by St. Paul, with Silas and Timothy, from the Bithynian frontier near Dorylaion or Kotiaion, brought the party to the coast at Troas (Ac 16:6–8). There can be little doubt that this road led down the Rhyndacus valley past the hot springs Artemaia, sacred to Artemis, on the river Aisepos.

Ruins of the Bath of Herodes Atticus at Troas. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Don’t confuse the Herodes Atticus mentioned here with the Herod’s of the New Testament. Herodes Atticus was a wealthy Greek from Athens who later became a Roman senator. The dates for his life are given in several sources as about A.D. 101–177. Those who have visited Athens may recall seeing the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on the slopes of the Acropolis.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus on the slope of the Acropolis. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The Sunday issue of The Jerusalem Post reports here that the Beit She’arim tombs in Western Galilee have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Beit She’arim, located in the Western Galilee about 20 km. southeast of Haifa, contains a necropolis filled with a series of catacombs built as early as the 2nd century C.E. The site served as the primary burial place outside Jerusalem following the failed second Jewish revolt against the Romans and boast “a treasury of artworks and inscriptions in Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew,” the World Heritage Committee said.

“Beit She’arim bears unique testimony to ancient Judaism under the leadership of Rabbi Judah the Patriarch, who is credited with Jewish renewal after 135 C.E.,” the committee added.

Beit She’arim is not a biblical site, but it illustrates the strength of Judaism in Galilee following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70, and the failed Bar Kochba revolt in A.D. 135.

Facade of the “Sarcophagi Cave” at Beit She’arim. Excavators recovered 135 sarcophagi from this cave, according to Azaria Alon in Israel National Parks & Nature Reserves. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Nine Israeli cities are now included on the World Heritage List.

…Masada; the Old City of Acre; the White City of Tel Aviv; the biblical tels of Megiddo, Hatzor [Hazor], and Beersheba; the incense route of desert cities in the Negev; Baha’i holy places in Haifa and the Western Galilee; and mostly recently, Beit Guvrin National Park

Bethany Beyond the Jordan (Al-Maghtas), the traditional place where John the Baptist worked, was also added to the World Heritage List this year.

These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. (John 1:28 ESV)

I have visited Bethany Beyond the Jordan four times since 2002, and have seen the various church buildings multiply. In May, when we visited the Jordan River on the Israeli side, we were traveling by car and were able to stop for photos almost anywhere we wished. As we left Qasr el-Yahud and began to ascend from the Jordan River valley (the Zor), we turned to see a nice photo of the Jordanian side and a glimpse of most of the new religious buildings. The buses are parked on the Israeli side and the river is not visible. The two prominent buildings seen near the middle of the photo are near the bank of the Jordan River on the Jordanian side.

Baptism site on the Jordan River. View east to Bethany Beyond the Jordan. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The last photo will provide some perspective. It was made from the Israeli side of the River with a view east toward the Jordanian side. You can see the two prominent religious building mention in the photo above.

View from Israeli side of the River to the Jordanian side. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.